Exposition
Dearly beloved, I am glad you have made time to do your devotion this morning. You are warmly welcome. As we learnt yesterday, life is compared to a race but, unlike an athletic race, life is a special race because it lasts a lifetime and also is a race against time. As a result, runners in such a special race will have to adopt certain characteristics that will let them achieve the goal of running.
In our opening Scripture, the Apostle Paul made it clear that all the runners run in the race but only one wins the prize. So “Run” in such a way that you may win. Hmm. Reflect on this. The following three characteristics cannot be overemphasized. To start with, all athletes who run go into strict training. Usain Bolt, who was once the fastest man on the planet, once stated: “I trained 4 years to run 9 seconds and people give up when they don’t see results in 2 months”.
A Christian should, therefore, develop training disciplines in Fasting, Bible Reading, Soul Winning, Character and Gifts developments and everything that pertains to his or her calling. To amount to anything in Christianity, please be disciplined. Successful athletes have Character. This character is not achieved in a day. You can achieve anything you want with discipline but maintaining what you have obtained demands character. Again, they have concentration. They have an innate ability to get into zones when they need to. This trait makes them wake up even if they don’t feel like running. The Christian has a higher mandate from His Lord. We don’t live the focused Christian life because we feel it but because we love our Lord.
Finally, the best athletes are self-motivated. The educationists call such motivation intrinsic motivation, a motivation that comes from within. The good athletes will let you know that there are times that all the odds are against them but they have an inner motivation that makes them run against the tide and become successful. The Christian is more than a conqueror through Christ. When the odds are against you, your greatest motivation is in Christ. He lives to make abiding intercession for you.